Convening for Action in British Columbia

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Stormwater Guidebook British Columbia

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Bend the watershed hydrology to reduce risk and liability” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in May 2024


    Robert Hicks, a career engineer-planner in local government, has an experience-based perspective on the impacts of changes to the landscape. His career achievements include co-creating the “streams and trees component” of the existing Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan for the Metro Vancouver region. “At the time, the value of managing drainage on a watershed basis within a broad framework of land management and ecosystem planning was not yet apparent. Research on stream health at the University of Washington changed all this,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    FLASHBACK TO 2010: “Think about it – the Reference Panel has influenced the waste committee, the finance committee and the way we make decisions overall in the Metro Vancouver region. The community benefits,” stated Pam Goldsmith-Jones, former mayor of West Vancouver (2005-2011)


    When the process for updating the Metro Vancouver region’s “Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan” commenced in 2008, Metro Vancouver Regional District staff were enthusiastic about the role of the Reference Panel. Because there was trust with staff, and the Reference Panel had the attention of the politicians, the Reference Panel could say what staff could not. There was huge positive value in that. The Reference Panel reinforced desired outcomes with its recommendations.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: A window into the green infrastructure journey in the Metro Vancouver region” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2023


    “Why did BC local governments not follow through and learn from the example of the three states along the west coast? In BC, in parallel with the US states we did continue to research the problems and to identify practical improvements to our practice of rainwater management. For many practitioners it is far easier to simply add ground infiltration measures to existing drainage practices. The stream has not been included in any meaningful manner and the impacts have not been quantified, nor have the effects of any mitigation works,” stated Jim Dumont.

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    FLASHBACK TO 1997: “Looking back, British Columbia’s Fish Protection Act was both a defining moment and a call to action. The consultation process led directly to the SmartStorm Forum Series. Guided by a vision for an ecosystem-based approach to land and water development, the series set in motion a chain of events. Their outcomes reverberated and have rippled through time,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability (1st in a series / January 2021)


    “I recall quite clearly that Erik Karlsen and Peter Law were sitting to our right as Bill Derry and I spoke impromptu to the ‘fish pictures’. It caught my attention how animated they were as they kept turning to each other during Bill and my presentation. When we finished, Erik was the first to speak. ‘At last,’ he said, ‘we have the science that explains the relationship between changes in land use and the consequences for stream health’. Little did I realize in the moment that my life was about to change. Nor did I realize how profoundly Erik Karlsen would influence my career direction,” recalled Kim Stephens.

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